What's this I hear about Power Cord upgrade?

Here's a tip.
Changing the power cord won't change anything about the amp or the way it sounds, spend your money on speakers, room treatment or beer.

If the AC cord is the one supplied by the manufacturer, it meets all the requirements the system component needs and no fancy uber buck cable will do ANYTHING aside from draining your wallet. Go buy some good SACDs or concerts on Bluray.

This is likely to be a troll. 3 cable threads, one after the other. What are the odds?

You have had your NAD less than a week And you are looking to
"upgrade" it already?? I don't get it?

+1

Let's hope so. These threads never end well.

Frank

Just another way to spend good money on something you don't need or do you any good. But if you do go that route don't forget these:

[url="http://machinadynamica.com/machina44.htm"]

Go out and buy several of these.......

http://www.shunyata.com/Content/prod...KingCobra.html

it always helps to have a few spares, clock radio, coffee maker, etc.......

Your sound quality will be directly proportional to the amount you spend, so charge up that credit card already .

Correct. This applies even if it means missing bill payments. My advice is to find a dealer and let him set the price at anything above $2,000 per cord. Your ears will thank you. Rediscover your music collection with the extra warmth, air and openness that only a quality power cord can provide.

Yes, because the electricity that powers your gear travels through hundreds of miles of commercial power-line, hundreds of splices, then hundreds of yards of romex in your house/ apartment it becomes critically important that you improve the last three feet of wire it travels through - b/w outlet and component - with something very exotic.

Actually, if you can afford it, it would be best to have every inch of wire in the power-grid that brings power to your home replaced with the same cable. ..And no splices as they're known to kill bass extension and imaging!

Hell, just eliminate the power company altogether and put a bunch of solar panels on your roof or a wind turbine in the backyard and wire everything directly to your system. There you go, clean, pure power.

I would suggest speaking with the dealer who sold you the NAD gear and ask him what he recommends.

You are SO right about this, because an audio salesman can ALWAYS be trusted to offer good advice, especially when it comes to spending extra money on after market cables!

He's also the best guy to know the equipment he sells.

Are you seriously suggesting that someone with a $600 mass market receiver should throw himself at the mercy of a salesman about whether he should buy a so called "audiophile" power cord? Really? That makes sense to you?

I think a man with a $600 mass market receiver should seek something better, just as the man with the $10,000 amplifier does. If it begins with an aftermarket power cord, that's cool.

Do not feed the troll!

I agree with your premise--that anyone can seek better sound--but I don't believe an aftermarket power cord qualifies as "something better" on a $600 receiver. Or on a $10,000 amplifier, for that matter...

Aside from replacing a working component, what would you recommend the OP do to improve the sound of his current system for a minimal cost. Any positive suggestions at all?

An earwax removal kit?

The OP wasn't asking for open ended suggestions on improving his sound, he was asking about replacing a specific working component--the power cord. My positive suggestion is to forget it.

Here you go again, shilling for your distributors.

Why not call up the technical support department of NAD? Afterall, they are trained by the company that designed the product. Who knows the product better than that. See what they say about aftermarket power cords!

And you think NAD won't shill for its distributors?

I'm assuming that since work would have to be done locally that the power cord does not simply plug in at both ends. You could learn to solder and do it yourself. But probably not worth the effort. The cord that NAD supplied is probably fine. The rs6 can probably take more power than you can currently give them - you might consider a bigger amp if you like to play loud. Or add a sub. Or treat you room. Or buy more music

Not for power cords. Here's why: The NAD amp is no doubt UL listed. That means the power cord supplied must also be UL listed as suitable for the product. If NAD were to reccomend an after market cord they would then assume any liability for fire or electrical shock as a result of the aftermarket cord.

In addition since most if not all aftermarket cords lack UL or any other official safety certfication, the risk is further elevated.

Note that buying UL listed parts like plugs and connectors does not mean the entire cord is UL listed. Furthermore many of these snake oil power cord manufactures perform cryogenic treatments, apply conductivity enhancing fluids, and apply gold plating. This act alone voids any UL listing of a component.

P.S. My comments above assumed a detachable IEC type power cord. If the power cord is hard attached to the unit, then it's absolutly a safety violation and no respectable manufacture would authorize a third party power cord replacement. If you want to lose any warranty you have, then go ahead and butcher the unit at will. I say "butcher" because if you follow the audiophile power cord fantasy, the replacement cord will have to be the size of a garden hose and that's not going to fit into the factory made hole.

pdferguson, Hey do you have any pic's of your system?

Common...no pic's

I used to believe 100% that there is no way a power cord could affect sound quality - and then I went and did something I thought rather innocuous and found otherwise. Granted the pc in question is a very unusual one in that is is rather cheap and it uses ferrite cores, something usually only found on power cords used with digital computer video monitors and TVs. Anyway, the pc in play was one I found in the discount bin at HH Gregg and it was a 12 gauge cord that I thought might be of some benefit in handling all the power coming from the wall that feeds my entire system through a PS Audio Power Director 3.5 power conditioner/surge protector, which comes with a stock 14 gauge pc. There are 12 components fed by this single wall connector into the PD 3.5, including a plasma TV and two power amps, and it is common for as many as 8 devices to be on simultaneously. So I figured a 12 gauge pc would be better than 14 gauge in that particular connector. The power cord I bought was the AR (Acoustic Research) PR 903 and it is 12 feet long (longer than I need really). It cost $20, normally $40-50 I found out later when I went looking for a six foot version on line. So this is not a "high end" snake-oil type cable situation, although it is probably as well built as any of those megabuck power cords. But the unique thing about it is the ferrite cores on each end, which I have never seen before on a general use power cord.

So while I was concerned about because the excess cord that tended to form loops (not a good thing I know), I inserted the cord in my system and decided to do some listening. I really didn't expect to hear anything special, so I was shocked to realize that indeed something had changed noticeably in the sound of my system. Most noticeable was that I could hear backup singers and overlays much more distinctly than before, and lower frequencies had an energy that I did not notice before. Vibrations and harmonics from stringed instruments were enhanced to an amazing degree. There really just seemed to be more of everything, really. I swapped the AR pc and went back to the stock cord just to be sure I was not imagining it and the differences were very clear and audible to my ears.

There were other benefits as well - picture quality on my TV seemed to be cleaner and have less video noise, and that included video from my DVD player and DVD recorder. And 5.1 audio from certain ABC's prime time shows was greatly improved as before I often had trouble hearing dialogue over the background music ABC often overdoes. Now that was no longer an issue because apparently my JBL AV-1 processor just seemed to do it's job better after inserting this power cord.

I decided to see if another "upgrade" power cord would make a similar difference and I found a 12 gauge PS Audio pc on clearance for $40 (half price). But no - it sounded just like the 14 gauge stock cord. So I conclude that the AR PR 903 is a rule-breaker, and I can recommend it to anyone who can find one. But good luck with that because it appears that AR no longer markets this power cord. I searched the net looking for a six foot version and could not find a single vendor that carries this cord in any length. I did find a 14 gauge AR cord in a blue color that may or may not produce the same results.

So to the OP all I can say is if you can find this particular AR power cord then give it a try. Otherwise, if you just want to satisfy your curiousity without wasting any huge sums you might want to try the very nice looking Pangea power cords sold exclusively at Audio Advisor. They are surprisingly cheap and were apparently designed by a guy with good credentials. They should provide enhanced shielding against RF and EMI and appear to be as well made as any of the megabuck power cords. They start at $19 and go on up depending on gauge and length. They are the only other power cords I would consider but I really doubt if they will do what the AR power cord did for me.

yes it is...just not in any of your posts